"Oh, I'd rather not bring lawyers into this if we can help it."

@mxyzplksaysreinstateMonica how would lawyers help in this situation?

The implication is that you never sign anything without showing it to your lawyer first, and you don't want to take the trouble and expense to do that, so it's just easier to decline to sign.

To be fair, assuming this is the same employer from this previous question (workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/144985/…), there has been a complaint against you that could constitute sexual harassment. HR may not have been aware of the complaint or might currently classify it as something other than sexual harassment. Your question seems to imply that the manager is making the accusation up out of whole cloth rather than pointing out an accusation that was actually made.

Rather than publicly badmouthing each other (which doesn't look good for either party), I'd think you'd be better off with a mutual confidentiality agreement (i.e. you agree that you won't disparage the company, the company agrees not to respond by disparaging you). I'm not sure if that's what the agreement they're proposing contains.

Probably very much relevant to the question that this is a followup of that question: workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/146987/…

"I only work for this company a couple days per week. " - are you still working with this company?

"Now they want to have another phone call with me and for me to sign a confidentiality agreement saying I won't discuss the issue." - have you actually read the agreement?

@JoeStrazzere yes, HR confirmed I haven't been terminated or anything like that.

@user109861 - I'm surprised. It seemed like you didn't want to continue working with them ("I have no need or desire to use this company as a reference or continue working for them past one more shift.")

"if I could provide them with witnesses who might have seen the post on social media." Was the post deleted before or after you contacted HR?

On which social media platform was this? Deleted posts can be more easily recovered on some platforms more than others.

@user109861 re: "how would lawyers help in this situation?" IANAL but this is libel--a crime in the US. You signing such an agreement helps them to ensure THEY won't have legal issues. That then makes it easier to fire you as an option to make this problem go away in their minds.

@johnspiegel - libel is notoriously difficult to prove in a court of law. Likely, the OP doesn't actually have a case, although it's good that HR is worried about the company image. At the end of the day, however, that well is probably poisoned, and he should move on to a less drama-prone place of employment.

@cris - No it's not. It can be your motto if you like, but please don't imply that you represent The Workplace.

Never sign ANYTHING without compensation. Ever.

I agree that signing the NDA doesn't make sense for the OP in this situation as described. If they were to offer something in exchange for signing... maybe. But it's all lawyer territory anyways. And a critical factor here: the manager's post may not be libelous, based on what we've seen in previous questions on this situation. OP: now that this has progressed to the point of a legal accusation against you in an (apparently) public forum, consult a lawyer. You need a professional's opinion on your legal situation, not well-meaning advice from the internet based on secondhand information.

@AndreiROM - libel is notoriously difficult to prove in a court of law. especially when the OP has another question from a few weeks ago detailing that they did, in fact, have a complaint made against them because they tried to hit on a secret shopper. Posting this question in a way that implies the manager is committing libel seems disingenuous.

@dwizum Yeah, this whole thing has me scratching my head. I know we're supposed to assume good faith, but the whole drama that's unfolded has me thinking this is the story of a protagonist as narrated by the foil.

@JustinCave it seems like a moot point. Hypothetically even if I did harass someone, management shouldn't go making public posts about it.

@user109861 So you now have an interest in continuing to work for this employer? If so, you should be helping HR, not fighting them.